Racing With Grace - Road to ROK Vegas

February 15, 2026 - Willow Springs Raceway

First Round of Tri-C High Desert Championship

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First and foremost,

Welcome everyone to the first blog of my series “Road to ROK Vegas”! As I am relatively new to Team King's Ambassador Program, I’d like to introduce myself.

My name is Grace Quinones, I am 21 years old, and a full-time student at California State University, Fullerton. I started racing competitively 4 years ago and have earned many podium finishes and wins in karting. I plan to continue racing while pursuing a career as a psychologist. If you’ve ever raced, whether it be karts, cars, bikes, or rather ever played a sport competitively, you know that your mind is your greatest asset, or your greatest enemy. I apply my knowledge of psychology to racing. This has helped me become a stronger driver, and I’m able to apply my knowledge of mental health to coach newer drivers in the field.

My biggest goal this season is to race in the highest-level national kart race in America, ROK Vegas and SuperNational Vegas. Tri-C Karters Championship is offering a 5-day ticket, entry, and fees paid for prize for the driver with the highest VLR Engine points at the end of the season. With this new opportunity, I decided to try my luck and race the series.

Saturday (02/06/26) - Practice

Proper Form Motorsports was generous enough to lend me a brand new kart chassis. A BirelArt S19. With its new metal and geometry, I began experimenting with different chassis setups, focusing on the kart's feel and handling rather than the engine. By session 3, I decided it was time to compare the VLR engine to my IAME one and see what I was working with. Since many of you don’t know, the VLR is similar to an IAME engine, with the exception that the VLR has a higher torque. I was about 3 tenths off my pace with the VLR engine, so I adjusted the kart setup for the last session. Unfortunately, the motor mount on the chassis broke, cutting my last session short, and leaving us unsure of any needed gear changes.

As I was walking back to the pits, a driver came up to me, asking questions about the engine. He seemed to have read my mind! Our biggest struggle was figuring out why the kart was “skipping” through the corners. With the discovery of the engine having more torque, we decided to change the gearing and pray for the best come race day.

Sunday (02/07/26) - Warm-up & Qualifying

Driver’s meeting early in the morning. My teammates and I grabbed our energy drinks and headed on over. By the time the driver’s meeting finished, we had about an hour to spare, so we walked around and socialized, itching to get back out.

I put on my driving gear and started the engine when I heard a noise. Hello?

I looked down only to see that the engine mount had come loose once more. By the time I realized, it was too late. I rushed to replace it and ran out on track, only having one lap to test the gear change. That was that. Lesson learned..

Back in the pits, I began thinking of the one lap I had, watching over drivers on track to give my best guess on how to set up this new chassis and engine pair. It was cold, and qualifying was only three laps (green, white, checkered). So I went with my cold setup, hoping the kart would come in right away.

As I was the first to qualify, I went to start the engine, only for it not to start. I couldn’t get it to start no matter how hard I tried, so I looked into the airbox, and sure enough, I flooded it. There were about 5 different mechanics trying to get the engine to run. For context, this is an old engine. We pulled it out of the shop and ran it. No testing, no look over, “just run it” mentality. By the time we got the engine running, I went to qualify, but with the engine not running right, there was nothing I could do. We qualified P17/20. Definitely NOT ideal, but the engine problem was out of my control, so I did my best to keep my head up high and focus on the pre-final and final.

Pre-Final & Final

Starting in the back is never ideal, but you gotta do what you gotta do. I’ve always qualified badly and then worked my way up, so I saw this as an exciting opportunity to get some passing practice and show everyone qualifying was just a fluke.

Anyway, that didn’t happen.

We grid up, and the green flag went down, and the engine was a slug to get on power. It was so bad that the driver behind me passed me AND got back on the racing line before turn 1.

If you watched my YouTube video, you could see the huge gaps I’d lose down the straightaways. I went to add more fuel to the carburetor, only to remember we taped them down so they wouldn’t move on the track. I accepted defeat and just ran as clean as I could.

Results: P15/20 (I moved up positions because drivers DNF’ed)

We watched the footage, I watched other drivers on track, talked to some people, and decided to make drastic changes to both the kart and engine.

I completely removed and replaced the seat on the chassis.

I changed the axle for a stiffer one.

I changed the gearing and carb needles on the VLR.

Only one other driver in my class was racing a VLR, so my goal changed from a podium to “I just need to beat him.”

Let the racing begin!

Green flag, and thankfully, the driver behind me pushed me instead of going on the inside. I was getting shoved from behind for the first half lap of the race, which helped me a lot. Then we got to the straightaway, and all my starting efforts were for nothing. I was still severely underpowered, so I kept my focus on the driver I needed to pass.

I added more fuel to the carburetor, which helped, and our chassis setup change was the right call. I managed to pass the driver I needed to beat, and held the lead until two laps to go.

With the white flag waving, I began looking back, and I saw him right on my bumper. I started defending and fought as hard as I could not to let him get by on the straightaway. Two corners to go, and I made it out in front, but with the checkered flag on the main straightaway, it was a race against power.

I barely crossed the finish line in front. 1 thousandths of a second to be exact.

Results: P14/20

Even though I struggled power-wise this race. I was able to find my strengths and weaknesses. The driver I battled with gave me a good fight, and at the end of the day, I had a lot of fun.

I would like to thank Proper Form Motorsports for their continued support and for trusting me as their primary driver. I’d also like to thank the mechanics who helped me during qualifying, and, of course, Team King Competition for providing me with the resources to share my journey in the racing scene.

Even though the results weren’t what we had hoped for, we beat the driver we needed to, putting us in first for the ROK championship lead. We’ll come back stronger.

Best,

G-race

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About Grace Quinones

Grace Quinones is a 20-year-old Mexican-American racing driver competing in karting and endurance events with Proper Form Motorsports. She began her competitive career in karting, earning a championship in her first full season and continuing to secure podium and top-five finishes at major venues across the United States. In addition to her racing career, she is a full-time student and a Team King Competition Ambassador, representing a mission focused on accessibility, discipline, and leadership in motorsports. As a minority and female athlete in a traditionally underrepresented space, Grace uses her platform to mentor emerging drivers and advocate for greater inclusion within the sport while actively developing her pathway into higher levels of car racing.

About Grace

www.teamking.club/gracequinones